In San Francisco- where I’ve sailed my whole life- fog is as much a part of sailing as the wind and water. Now, I wouldn’t trade the bay area’s climate for any other, but it makes navigation especially tricky when you can barely make out the shape of your mast while underway. With modern radar [...]Read More »

I, like most people, am not the athlete I used to be. I lettered in baseball during high school, but now, throwing any sort of object makes me feel like my shoulder is made from rusty, decades-old iron. Not making it to the major leagues isn’t the end of the world for me, but like [...]Read More »

If a sailor wanted to buy the best knife for seafarers I would highly recommend Spyderco’s Atlantic Salt. The Atlantic Salt is a big improvement over my previous favorite knife, Syderco’s Assist, with better rustproofing and a tighter design.Read More »

I don’t remember the first (and last) time I really learned why the boom got its name. I was young, completely oblivious to the fact that we were sailing downwind and much more attentive to a game of “hull tag” with my brothers on the catamaran we and my dad were sailing. Obviously the cockpit [...]Read More »

Technology can be a marooned sailor’s best friend. When foul weather gets the best of your boat, reliable and effective equipment can be the difference between being rescued and becoming fish food. Another factor to take into consideration is the convenience of the equipment: is it easily carried when sailing? Can you quickly get to [...]Read More »

No sailor wants to be caught in a situation where he or she is completely devoid of fresh drinking water. If onboard supplies run out or become contaminated, an emergency water desalinator can be the difference between survival and a slow death under the hot, unrelenting sun. There are not a lot choices in the [...]Read More »

With the right signaling equipment, most mariners can save their own lives in case of trouble at sea. However, today’s communication-rich world offers so many ways to signal for help — electronically and with smoke and flares — that the options can be confusing, especially since no signaling device is perfect. Let’s start with EPIRBs, [...]Read More »

For the weekend boater, the radio is usually the only piece of equipment needed to get out of trouble: the Coast Guard and shore is normally close by, and there are often other boaters within hailing distance, if things really go south. For those who captain commercial ships, or those who go cruising for extended [...]Read More »

A Personal Locator Beacon (PLB) is the most reliable way to be found in case you get lost at sea or are in an emergency and need to be found quickly. The federal government approved the use of PLBs back in 2003, and for adventurers of all types, especially sailors, it’s essential to be carrying [...]Read More »

Text messaging from sea has long been an option either via expensive internet at sea connections or via cheap (i.e. not reliable) systems like the SPOT Messenger, which do not have global coverage, but there has yet to be a simple low cost system that works EVERYWHERE at sea. And none of them allow you [...]Read More »

The Teak Rail a collection of our favorite marine equipment. Each item featured on this site is a result of hundreds of hours of research and thousands of hours of abuse aboard vessels sailing the high seas. To learn more about what we do visit our FAQ and learn how to Support Us.

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Best Folding Knife - UPDATEDIf a sailor wanted to buy the best knife for seafarers I would highly recommend Spyderco’s Atlantic Salt. The Atlantic Salt is a big improvement over my previous favorite knife, Syderco’s Assist, with better rustproofing and a tighter design.

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The Teak Rail is a collection of our favorite marine equipment. Each item featured on this site is a result of hundreds of hours of research and thousands of hours of abuse aboard vessels sailing the high seas.